After Pepsi, BCCI scores new deals with Hyundai and Intex

After withdrawing its sponsorship of the Indian Premier League, beverage maker PepsiCo has signed up as the new associate sponsorRavi Teja Sharma&Gulveen Aulakh | ET Bureau | March 04, 2016, 09:05 IST

पेप्सीThe Indian cricket board has created three new associate sponsorship opportunities apart from the position of title sponsorship for tests, one-day internationals and T20 internationals played in the country, adding Rs 150 crore to the board's coffers over four years.

While snacks and beverages major PepsiCo has signed the first associate sponsorship deal with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), carmaker Hyundai and mobile handset maker Intex are in talks for similar deals, two people familiar with the development told ET. "Talks are on with Hyundai and Intex and the deals should be closed in the next few days," one of them said.

Anurag Thakur, secretary at BCCI, on Thursday announced the associate sponsorship deal with PepsiCo and confirmed that two more such deals are in the pipeline, but did not disclose names of likely partners. He said the three new deals will fetch the board Rs 150 crore over four years. "We want to increase fan engagement (and) fan experience for cricket. We also want to increase revenues for the BCCI," he said.

Keshav Bansal, director at Intex Technologies, confirmed talks with the cricket board. "We are at preliminary stage of discussion with BCCI and it's too early to comment on any development on the same," he said in response to ETquery.

BCCI and Hyundai Motor India did not respond to email questionnaires sent by ET as of press time on Thursday.

As ET first reported on February 19, BCCI has signed an on-ground sponsorship deal with PepsiCo. The four-year deal that will kick start from Bangladesh's tour of India later this year will give PepsiCo onground visibility and pouring and snacking rights in around 20 matches a year. Also, the firm's energy drink Gatorade will be the new performance drink for team India.

The deal marks PepsiCo's return to cricket sponsorship after withdrawing its title sponsorship of the Indian Premier League two years ahead of schedule last year following spot-fixing and betting scandals that lead to suspension of two IPL teams.

"When PepsiCo had parted ways with IPL, we had said that we are not parting ways with BCCI," said D Shivakumar, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo India. "It is the beginning of a new chapter in our longstanding association with BCCI."